Australia
Attorney General Department (Cth) (2015) Family Law Council Report to the Attorney-General on Families with Complex Needs and the Intersection of the Family Law and Child Protection Systems: Interim Report – June 2015 (Terms 1 & 2).
Australian Law Reform Commission and New South Wales Law Reform Commission, Family Violence – A National Legal Response (ALRC Report 114) 2010.
Australian Law Reform Commission, Family Violence: Improving Legal Frameworks, Consultation Paper No 1 (2010).
Bryant, Diana, ‘The Family Courts and Family Violence’ (Paper presented at the Judicial Conference of Australia Colloquium, Adelaide, 9-11 October 2015).
Conner, Dana Harrington, ‘Civil Protection Order Duration: Proof, Procedural Issues and Policy Considerations’ (2015) 24:2 Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review 343.
Cordier, Reinie, Donna Chung, Sarah Wilkes-Gillan and Renée Speyer, ‘The Effectiveness of Protection Orders in Reducing Recidivism in Domestic Violence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis’ (2019) Trauma, Violence & Abuse (advance)
Croucher, Rosalind, ‘Family Law: Challenges for Responding to Family Violence in a Federal System’ in Alan Hayes and Daryl Higgins Families, Policy and the Law: Selected Essays on Contemporary Issues for Australia (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2014) 207.
Douglas, Heather and Robin Fitzgerald, ‘Legal Processes and Gendered Violence: Cross-Applications for Domestic Violence Protection Orders’ (2013) 36(1) University of New South Wales Law Journal 56.
Dowling, Christopher, Anthony Morgan, Shann Hulme, Matthew Manning and Gabriel Wong, Protection orders for domestic violence: A systematic review (Australian Institute of Criminology Report No. 551 June 2018).
Fitzgerald ,Robin and Heather Douglas, The Whole Story: The Dilemma of the Domestic Violence Protection Order Narrative, The British Journal of Criminology, Volume 60, Issue 1, January 2020, Pages 180–197, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azz043.
Gelb, Karen, ‘Understanding Family Violence Court Proceedings: The Impact of Family Violence on the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria’ (2016) Karen Gelb Consulting.
Jeffries, Samantha et al, ‘Protecting Australia’s Children: A Cross Jurisdictional Review of Domestic Violence Protection Order Legislation’ (2015) 22(6) Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 800-813.
Jeffries, Samantha et al., ‘Australian Domestic Violence Protection Order Legislation: A Comparative Quantitative Content Analysis of Victim Safety Provisions’ (2013) 25(2) Current Issues in Criminal Justice 627.
Jordan, Carol, Adam J Pritchard and Pamela Wilcox (2008) ‘The denial of emergency protection: Factors associated with court decision making’, Violence and Victims 23(5):603-16, doi: 10.1891/0886-6708.23.5.603
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Mackay, Erin, Althea Gibson, Huette Lam, David Beecham, Perpetrator interventions in Australia: Part one – Literature review (ANROWS, 2015).
Meyer, Silke & Rose Stambe (2022) Increasing compliance with domestic violence protection orders: investing in perpetrator education and support as an investment in victim and family safety, Policing and Society, 32:9, 1071-1086, DOI:10.1080/10439463.2021.2016756
New South Wales Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues, Domestic Violence Trends and Issues in NSW (Report 46, 2012).
Reeves, E. ‘I’m Not at All Protected and I Think Other Women Should Know That, That They’re Not Protected Either’: Victim–Survivors’ Experiences of ‘Misidentification’ in Victoria’s Family Violence System. (2021) 10 (4) International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 39-51.
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Roberts, James C, Loreen Wolfer and Marie Mele (2008) ‘Why victims of intimate partner violence withdraw protection orders’, Journal of Family Violence 23(5):369-375.
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Stambe, R.-M., & Meyer, S. (2022). Police and Duty Lawyer Perceptions of Domestic Violence Protection Order Proceedings Involving Parents: Towards Greater System Accountability and Family-Centred Decision-Making. Journal of Family Violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00449-8.
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Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence, (Volume 3, 2016).
Wangmann, Jane, ‘Gender and Intimate Partner Violence: A Case Study from NSW’ (2010) 33(3) University of New South Wales Law Journal 945.
Wilcox, Karen and Ludo McFerran, ‘Staying Home, Staying Safe: the Value of Domestic Violence Protection Order Provisions in Homelessness Strategies’ (2009) 294 Australian Law Reform Commission Journal 24.
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Key points:
•
Interim/temporary orders may be made pending a final hearing of the matter.
•
Final protection orders may be made for a fixed period or until further order.
The court may make a final protection order for a fixed period of time or until further order; or the court may make an interim or temporary order to ensure the protection of the victim and other protected people pending a final hearing of the matter. This is on the basis that the need for protection is urgent and it would be inconsistent with the principle of safety to defer the granting of protection until the perpetrator has been served with an application. There is a variety of circumstances that may delay the finalisation of an application, for example interim orders may be made or extended to allow proper preparation for a final hearing, monitoring of safety arrangements and other concurrent family law related proceedings.
Most jurisdictions do not prescribe a maximum duration for a final protection order, instead allowing the court to specify an appropriate period of time, or to provide for no expiration date. US research indicates that flexibility is necessary to tailor the order to the totality of the circumstances of the particular case with regard to any aggravating factors such as increased risk of harm or recidivism, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.
Key points:
•
Interim/temporary orders may be made pending a final hearing of the matter.
•
Final protection orders may be made for a fixed period or until further order.
The court may make a final protection order for a fixed period of time or until further order; or the court may make an interim or temporary order to ensure the protection of the victim and other protected people pending a final hearing of the matter. This is on the basis that the need for protection is urgent and it would be inconsistent with the principle of safety to defer the granting of protection until the perpetrator has been served with an application. There is a variety of circumstances that may delay the finalisation of an application, for example interim orders may be made or extended to allow proper preparation for a final hearing, monitoring of safety arrangements and other concurrent family law related proceedings.
Most jurisdictions do not prescribe a maximum duration for a final protection order, instead allowing the court to specify an appropriate period of time, or to provide for no expiration date. US research indicates that flexibility is necessary to tailor the order to the totality of the circumstances of the particular case with regard to any aggravating factors such as increased risk of harm or recidivism, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.